(Original Fantasy) The Lifeblood Oasis

I Just Write

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CONTENT WARNINGS: This story contains Sexual Assault, Violence, General Trauma

In the square of Ardsto Flats, I was waiting for my role in the inauguration ceremony for this year’s new class of Founts. The knife I kept for opening myself up as part of my profession weighed heavily in its concealed holster between my breasts. As a Fount, I needed to be ready to bleed profusely at any time, since the essence of Life being pumped through my system was critical to keeping Ardsto Flats alive. It wasn’t a concern; I produced more than enough Life to sustain myself even while spraying gallons of it all over the scenery.

Musings aside, the class of twenty fourteen year olds was anxiously awaiting their induction at their end of the square. Ten boys and ten girls were standing to attention, even as I and the other sponsoring Founts stood behind them. On the other side of the square I could see that some of the caravans who’d stopped in town for supplies before crossing the hundreds of miles of desert between here and anywhere else had shown up to gawk. Eh, tourists; not like other towns didn’t have public Fount initiations anyway.

Closer, Agito the Fount proctor was walking in front of the line of candidates, trailing plumes of glowing green Life-vapor from cuts all over her body as she sized them up. A few candidates flinched at the mildly gory sight, but no-one had a panic attack at the sight, unlike some years.

In front of me, I could see that Sandfinch – my sponsored candidate – was one of the girls who hadn’t flinched. Apparently, my idea of acclimatizing her to gore by letting her play with my severed head from time to time had worked.

Either way, after a few moments Agito noted “Well, none of you ran away at seeing me like this, so I think you’re all psychologically tough enough to move on to the next step. Candidates, your sponsors will now open the blood vessel of your choice, and you WILL drink until you’re told to stop. Sponsors, step forwards.”

With that, I walked down the few stairs at my end of the square and stepped in front of Sandfinch. As I did so, I asked “So kiddo, where do you want me to open up?”

Sandfinch brushed her blonde hair away and thought for a moment before she replied “Could I please drink from your neck, Theerin? It bleeds pretty fast and it’s not as awkward to reach as some other spots.”

I drew my knife as I noted “Sure thing.” and sliced open my jugular. Glowing green Life started spraying from the wound, even as Sandfinch locked her mouth around it and started drinking deeply and greedily. While she did this, I gently pricked a spot on her back with my knife, so that I’d be able to see when she stopped bleeding red and started bleeding Life.

This took a few minutes, during which the crowd was respectfully silent aside from a few hecklers. Still, as soon as Sandfinch was bleeding a brightly glowing green I willed the Life flowing through me to close my wound and pulled back. Sandfinch looked somewhat flustered for a moment, before I noted “Good news Sandfinch, you’re a Fount now!”

Under the glare of the midday desert sun, Sandfinch’s smile was positively luminous as she asked “Does this mean I can make the air around me glow with Life now?”

Chuckling, I handed Sandfinch her new knife and told her “Feel free, and enjoy the party! This is probably the biggest chunk of free time you’ll get until you finish your combat and vocational training five years from now.”

Immediately, Sandfinch plunged the knife into her wrist, and her face contorted in pain as she whimpered a bit. Frowning sympathetically, I asked “More pain than you expected?”

Sandfinch managed to get out “Yes, definitely. Does it ever hurt less?” even as she pulled the knife back out.

I shook my head no, even as I said “You just learn to ignore it after a while. People can get used to nearly anything, and being a Fount means getting used to pain.”

At this, Sandfinch nodded even as her expression became one of determination and noted “I suppose I had better start now in that case.” and she resumed perforating herself, wincing with each wound she opened. Still, after a few moments, she was trailing dozens of streams of glowing life-vapor with every movement of her limbs, and seemed to almost preen as she wandered off into the crowd to show off.

As for me, I went to go get a snack from one of the vendor stalls. Strictly speaking I didn’t need to eat thanks to my internal Life production, but indulging my sense of taste every once in a while was still a pleasure. Looking around, I quickly spotted the candied fig stall and made my way over.

When I arrived, I recognized the dark-skinned man as farmer Rence, greeting him with “Hello! I’d like some of those candied figs you’re hawking. Interested in Gold or Life in payment?”

In response, Rence just snorted and said “Life. I know your tricks Theerin and I’m not letting you run up a tab of that worthless yellow metal again. Meanwhile I know you’re good for Life and I can get all sorts of use from some surplus beyond the town mandated amount for keeping the fields invigorated and homes lit.”

I just shrugged and smiled as I asked “How much?”

In response, Rence retrieved a large thick-walled jug from below the counter, stuck a funnel in the opening, and with a look of total seriousness replied “Fill it up.”

I just shrugged, popped my wrist open, and bled into the funnel for a couple minutes until it started flowing out the top of the jug. With that, I closed my wound and asked “Is that enough?”

Rence stoppered the jug and replied “Sure thing. Here.” before passing me a box of eighteen candied figs over the counter.

I quickly took my box of treats and wandered over to one of the benches and began eating my snack, taking the time to savor each and every fig. In the background, I caught several brief glimpses of Sandfinch dancing around, trailing streams of Life-vapor as she did so. She seemed to be having a good time, so I left Sandfinch to her own devices while I ate.

Still, when I finished my snack, I figured I might as well go check up on Sandfinch and see if she was enjoying herself. Sticking the box in the pocket of my dress linens, I started wandering through the crowd in search of the Fount I’d sponsored.

However, much to my consternation, I found myself instead being waylaid by one of the tourists, a short bearded man with skin slightly lighter than my own dark brown and a wide-brimmed flat-top hat. I barely had time to process his presence before he had obstructed my path and was asking “So I’ve never seen a Fount initiation before today and now I’m really curious what being a Fount is like. Would you mind telling me?”

My displeasure was obvious in both my voice and mannerisms as I answered “Painful, but also very liberating. Now can I please go find my apprentice?” as I moved to walk past the man.

Much to my growing annoyance, the man obstructed my path again and tried to ask another question. I didn’t bother listening, just shoving him aside and continuing on my way. I heard the man behind me trying to ask more questions, but ignored him as I quickly spotted a large plume of Life-Vapor that definitely indicated an open Fount.

Following the plume, I arrived to the sight of a headless teenage girl staggering out of an alleyway, emitting massive quantities of Life-Vapor from her neck stump, and with her head nowhere in sight. Shocked, I asked “Sandfinch is that you?”

Unsurprisingly once I thought about it for a moment, the headless Fount just continued groping onwards blindly and deafly. In hopes of getting some sort of response, I placed my arm in the path of her flailing. She quickly grabbed on and started feeling her way up my body to my face, and after doing so withdrew her grasp.

Then, in the particularly shaky signing style that Sandfinch had managed to learn, she signed [Sandfinch. Six bandits. Stole head.]

Immediately, I grabbed Sandfinch’s hand and pulled her along behind me as I practically sprinted towards the nearest town guard, Sandfinch barely staying upright behind me. Moments later I quickly found the man leaning against the wall and told him “A group of bandits stole Sandfinch’s head. Sound the lockdown alarm and we might keep them from getting away!”

The guard looked at Sandfinch’s neck stump briefly as he inhaled, before saying “Right.” The plume of Life-Vapor flowing from Sandfinch curled towards the guard as he focused his Drain, and with a voice amplified by the expenditure of Life the guard called out loud enough for all of Ardsto Flats to hear “A FOUNT’S HEAD HAS BEEN STOLEN! CLOSE THE GATES, FULL LOCKDOWN!”
 
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Leila Hann

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Reverse-vampires, basically.

You'd think they'd guard them better, but I guess Sandfinch may have been reckless and wandered off alone.
 

I Just Write

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You'd think they'd guard them better, but I guess Sandfinch may have been reckless and wandered off alone.
A bit of demographic math here.

Each year, there are typically twnety-ish new Founts inaugurated.
Only one in ten people becomes a Fount, since it does have some significant drawbacks - mostly related to being locked out of the rest of the magic system.
This means that on average, 200 kids are born in Ardsto Flats each year.
Multiply that by an average life expectancy of 85 and very low infant mortality, and Ardsto Flats has a population of about 34,000. Of that, roughly 3,400 is Founts.

So Founts are generally common enough that there usually isn't much point to going after them.
 

Leila Hann

Member
A bit of demographic math here.

Each year, there are typically twnety-ish new Founts inaugurated.
Only one in ten people becomes a Fount, since it does have some significant drawbacks - mostly related to being locked out of the rest of the magic system.
This means that on average, 200 kids are born in Ardsto Flats each year.
Multiply that by an average life expectancy of 85 and very low infant mortality, and Ardsto Flats has a population of about 34,000. Of that, roughly 3,400 is Founts.

So Founts are generally common enough that there usually isn't much point to going after them.

Noted.
 

I Just Write

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A couple minutes after lockdown, I was sitting next to Sandfinch in the Fount training grounds. She was still holding onto me with her right hand, while she probed the area around her neck stump with her left. Sandfinch’s breathing and pulse had just barely started slowing down to a more relaxed pace when Agito entered the courtyard.

The proctor sighed and looked to Sandfinch, then me. Then she said “Theerin. The guards are searching for the group of bandits who stole Sandfinch’s head, but we need a description of what they look like. Sandfinch obviously can’t talk, hear or see right now, and her signing isn’t good enough to provide a detailed description.”

I spotted the subtext immediately and said “Sure, I’ll let Sandfinch borrow my head for a bit.” even as I drew my knife and quickly set about cutting off my head, using a rhythmic sawing motion to make it relatively quick and easy. I was cutting fairly low on my neck this time, to ensure that Sandfinch got at least one full set of vocal chords, since it looked like the bandits had cut through her voicebox. After a few moments I passed my head to Sandfinch, my field of view suddenly rotating as Sandfinch started rotating my head around to try and feel what it was.

A few seconds of this passed before Sandfinch apparently figured out that my head was in fact a head. Then she put it onto her neck and I partially sealed the wounds so she could use it, but I’d still be able to easily pull it off. I felt Sandfinch trying to speak through my lips, and I let her.

My own voice sounded a bit odd as Sandfinch used it to ask “Did you get my head back... wait this isn’t my voice.” and looked over at where I was sitting headless, a plume of Life-Vapor flowing from my neck stump and illuminating the area.

I quickly signed [Letting you use my head right now. Please describe the group who attacked you.]

Sandfinch looked to Agito, then started talking “Right. There were six men in the alley there. All of them were dressed up like people from the North, with those multicolored sashes and wide-brimmed hats. I didn’t get to look very long because they blindfolded me almost immediately after cutting my head off and stuffed my ears with wax. That said, I’m pretty sure they’ve put my head in some sort of box, and judging by how much jostling I’m still experiencing they haven’t stopped moving since they jumped me.”

That twigged something in my memory as I signed [Wide-brimmed hats? A man wearing one of those got in my way just before I found you headless. I think he might have been running interference for them.]

Agito groaned with frustration, “So there’s at least seven people involved in this plot, and they were smart enough to have someone keeping trouble away while they did the act in question, along with taking measures to avoid Sandfinch’s head giving away their position. It’s still vaguely possible that they’re in Ardsto Flats, but it’s far more likely that they’ve already made their escape and we’ll need to send someone after them.”

There were several moments of silence, before Sandfinch looked back in my direction and I signed [Can I please have my head back now?]

Sandfinch hesitated, before saying “Fine. I really really don’t like being helpless though.”

With that, I reached over and with a solid yank I pulled my head right off Sandfinch’s shoulders. Even as I put myself back together, Sandfinch was already crossing her arms together in an obvious pout, her Life-plume pulsing in intensity with her heartbeat.

A moment later, one of the guards entered the courtyard and reported “We’ve searched the cargo of all the travellers currently in town. We haven’t found any Fount body parts, though we did uncover a human trafficking ring and arrest everyone keeping it running.”

Agito just nodded in acknowledgement, before saying “Right. We’re going to need to organize a search party for this. Call the rest of the council to Stophall, and we’ll start planning the mission.”

I got up to follow, only for Agito to turn to me and note “Theerin, you stay here. Sandfinch is your apprentice, and she needs your help to function right now.”

I sighed and said “Right.” before turning back to Sandfinch. Instead of a gaseous plume of Life, now she was bleeding its glowing green liquid form, thoroughly soaking her clothing. As I sat and watched, Sandfinch switched between gaseous and liquid flow several times, before eventually settling on gaseous. Apparently she’d figured out the phase transition, and it was at least something to do, given her current state.

Several minutes passed, before Sandfinch tried hauling herself to her feet and promptly fell over. She tried again a few times, to no avail. I could sympathize from previous experience; without feedback from vision or the inner ear, maintaining balance was nearly impossible unless you had a handhold to keep you upright. So, the third time Sandfinch tried to haul herself onto her feet I held out an arm for her to grab.

Sandfinch grabbed on briefly, before immediately letting go. When she tumbled over again and hauled herself to a sitting position, she signed [Walk on my own. Won’t give up. Ever.]

In response, I traced the word “YES” on her back letter by letter, letting Sandfinch know I got her message.

What followed were several minutes of repeated attempts by Sandfinch to stay upright while missing two out of three senses that could provide balance information. The longest she could stay upright was two seconds, and any time she tried taking a step she fell over immediately. It was painful to watch, especially when Sandfinch sat down in something vaguely resembling the fetal position after a string of particularly painful falls.

Still, after a few moments, Sandfinch signed [Trying something different. Might help.]

Then the plume from her neck stump briefly cut out, and I felt a surge of something that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. On her part, Sandfinch suddenly straightened out and signed [Pulse bounced back. Bounced back brighter for living things. I can see using that.]

There was another pulse from Sandfinch, then another, and another. At the same time, she hauled herself to her feet, and this time she stayed upright. One faltering step, then another. Immediately, Sandfinch threw her arms up in joy as she turned to me and signed [I can see and walk again! Still can’t hear, but pulses are round.]

Something quickly occurred to me, and I signed back [Can you read handsigns with this?]

Immediately, Sandfinch replied [Yes. Please slower. Can only see during pulses.]

This was huge. The main reason we’d invented Ardsto sign language in the first place was for getting reports back from patrols who brought a Fount’s head with them, but few were willing to volunteer for that role given how helpless it rendered them. On the other hand, we’d have significantly more takers if Sandfinch’s new technique were shared, as it massively reduced the downsides to being headless.

I signed back a bit slower [Do you think you could teach this to others?], making sure to time each sign to one of Sandfinch’s pulses.

[Yes, but writing. Can’t sign well enough yet.]

[The library, then?]

[Yes.]

[I’ll tell Agito and meet you there.]

And with that, Sandfinch walked off towards the library. Meanwhile, I made my way towards Stophall. At the door the Fount acting as guard asked “Aren’t you supposed to be watching over Sandfinch?”

I told him “This is important. Sandfinch figured out a way to see without her head and she’s on her way to the library to write it down.”

The man’s eyes widened and he hurriedly stepped aside, saying “Right this way ma’am.”

And with that, I entered Stophall, quickly making my way to the council room. Knocking on the door, I waited for permission to enter, and the instant I heard “Come in.” I opened the door.

I didn’t wait for accusations, saying “Sandfinch figured out a way to see while headless. She’s on her way to the library now to write it down.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Agito abruptly got up from her seat and said “Right. I’ve got to come take a look at this.” and walked out of the council room. I followed her, and as we walked through the exit door of Stophall, Agito asked “So, what can you tell me about Sandfinch’s newfound ability to see without her head?”

As we walked, I told her “Sandfinch figured out how to do something to her plume that makes it send out a pulse that bounces off stuff. She can tell when the pulse bounces back to her, and with that she can gauge distance, shape, and orientation well enough to read handsigns at six paces.”

As we walked, Agito thought for a moment before she said “That sounds a lot like the night ping spell that the Guards use, but I thought Founts didn’t have the control for that? We can barely control something as simple as what phase of matter our Life comes out in.”

Then something clicked in my mind as I noted “Sandfinch knew the night ping spell before becoming a Fount. What she came up with is probably a variant on that with all the complexity stripped out that she could.”

Agito nodded in agreement, “Yes, that’s probably it.”

Then we arrived at the library, passing the printing press room as we made our way to the scriptorium. Sure enough, there was Sandfinch rapidly writing down her technique on a piece of bamboo paper, the text glowing with the distinctive green of fresh Life. We’d just arrived next to the writing desk when Sandfinch put down the fountain pen and signed [Just finished writing. Glad we use Life ink, so I can read.]

Smiling, I signed back [Well done! Mind if we read it now?]

In response, Sandfinch simply passed the page to Agito, who browsed it for a few moments and said “Hmmm. Yes, I can probably do this.” before stabbing herself in the chest to draw a plume of Life directly from her aorta. Soon enough she’d managed the same sort of pulsing that Sandfinch was doing. Agito’s eyes widened and she one-handedly signed [I’m doing it! Theerin you’ve got to try this!] as she passed the page to me.

So of course I read, the glowing green text quickly revealing just how right I was with regards to the origins of Sandfinch’s Lifesight technique.
 

I Just Write

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When Sandfinch showed up for her third combat training session a few days after the initial theft, her first comment was [You aren’t wearing your head Theerin? Why? If it’s just to make me feel better you really didn’t need to.]

As we walked over towards the rack of weapons we’d be training with, I replied [I need to get used to fighting with Lifesight just in case, so I left my head on one of the reservoir’s filling nozzles. Also, your signing has really improved.]

From the way Sandfinch vibrated up and down a bit next to me, it was plainly obvious that if she had a full set of vocal chords she would have just chuckled a bit. A moment later, she signed back [Well, it’s been my only way to talk for the past week, so I’ve had lots of opportunities to practice.]

As Sandfinch finished signing that, we arrived at the weapon rack. I quickly drew one of the broadsword polearm tips from the rack and started screwing shaft sections into its base to assemble a full-length swordstaff. As I handed the weapon to Sandfinch, I signed one-handedly [Polearm practice today. We’ll be doing full spars to dismemberment.]

Sandfinch signed a quick acknowledgement, before asking [Tournament rules or skirmish?]

As I finished assembling my own weapon, I answered [Skirmish. That’s what an actual fight is like, so that’s what comes first.]

Sandfinch wasted absolutely no time after reading those handsigns, making a swing for my right arm with the swordstaff before I could even announce the start of a bout. I caught the blow on the shaft of my polearm, deflecting it upwards even as I swung my weapon down at Sandfinch’s left side.

A few seconds later, I’d disarmed Sandfinch in quite a literal manner. I quickly picked up Sandfinch’s arms from the ground and set about reassembling her. That done, I signed [Good try at a surprise attack, but you spent a moment too long on the wind-up. If you’d gone straight from holding the weapon at rest to a diagonal downwards strike I wouldn’t have had as much time to respond, and you’d probably have amputated me.]

Sandfinch meanwhile was busy testing her arms to make sure they’d gone back on properly, before she replied [Alright, that mak-]

I of course interrupted her by cutting off one of her legs at the knee, sending her sprawling to the ground. As my apprentice reassembled herself, I signed [Remember, skirmish rules. Talking distracts from your opponent, especially with sign languages. You need to make sure you’re not in a vulnerable position when doing it.]

Then I helped put Sandfinch back together again. What followed were several hours of skirmish-rules Swordstaff bouts. I came out on top for most of them, but Sandfinch managed to take me down twice towards the end of our session. It was getting towards midday, and I told Sandfinch [I’ll just go get my head back on, then we can do some firearms training.]

Sandfinch just cocked her neck stump to the side and asked [Aren’t guns basically useless against Founts until you get up to heavy explosive weapons?]

I made a thumbs-up gesture as encouragement for good thinking skills and replied [That’s true, but not everyone you might need to fight is a Fount. In fact, against a Drain caster a gun is one of your best options, since it lets you hit them at range instead of trying to close to melee while constantly being bombarded.]

And with that, I walked over to the municipal Life reservoir. Lifesight let me tell that plenty of travelers were gawking at me walking around headless, but most of the people who actually lived here had already gotten more-or-less used to it. A few minutes later, I arrived at the reservoir building, and after climbing the stairs to the filling deck, I wandered the rows of nozzles to find the spot where I left my head.

As I did so, I noticed dozens of other heads left on various filling stations. Apparently I'd started something of a fad among Founts, probably due to the convenience of being able to do other things while filling. I counted at least a hundred other Fount's heads on the nozzles before I came into view of my own, waving to myself to make sure the headless woman walking towards my head was actually me. Closing my eyes helped with the dizziness involved in putting my head back on, though Lifesight cutting out when I did that was its own kind of disorienting.

Either way, now that I had my head back on my shoulders it was time to go back to the training grounds. Compared to my trek from the training grounds to the reservoir, I attracted a lot less attention. Also, now that I knew some of the other Founts were trying out being headless with Lifesight, I was able to spot the occasional headless person wandering around doing stuff.

However, I wasn’t expecting that the instant I got back to the training grounds, Sandfinch would immediately grapple me in a hug while vibrating in fear. After a few moments of breathing in the high-pressure plume of Life-vapor from Sandfinch’s neck stump, I managed to get my arms free and ask [Sandfinch, what’s wrong?]

Sandfinch let go, but only to quickly sign [One of the thieves is using my head to give himself a blowjob and it’s scary and gross!]

I felt my face contorting into a rictus of fury as I immediately signed back [Bite his dick off.]

Several moments passed without response from Sandfinch aside from sitting down on the ground, before she signed again [Real blood tastes bad, not like Life. I can hear the screaming even through the wax they shoved in my ears, and they’re jostling my head around like they’re fighting over it.]

Without much else to say, I sat down next to my apprentice and started giving her a backrub like she’d enjoyed for years now. After a couple seconds, Sandfinch leaned into it, the pulse rate of her plume slowing as she calmed down a bit. A bit into this, Sandfinch signed [I hope those men leave my head just lying in the desert somewhere. Then at least I wouldn’t have to worry about anything being done to me through it.]

After a few moments of thought, it occurred to me to ask [You’re talking like your head isn’t part of you. Is that intentional?]

Immediately, Sandfinch signed back [Yes. It’s blindfolded, earplugged, noseplugged and now gagged. I can’t do anything through it so it’s just an object.]

In response, I just pulled Sandfinch into a hug and asked [Are you still ready for firearms training?]

[Yeah.]

The next day, Agito greeted Sandfinch and I at the vocational school. There was a brief exchange of formalities, before Agito signed [I’ve got some bad news. We figured out where the thieves went.]

Sandfinch had been rubbing some disinfectant ointment into her neck stump when Agito signed this, so it took a couple tries for Sandfinch to get the message. Still, as soon as Sandfinch knew what had just been said, she asked [Excuse me, why is knowing where the thieves went a bad thing?]

Agito sighed, before she said [Because they went to the River Kingdom of Loi, more specifically to the Loi Delta to the Northeast. We can’t send a task force there to bring your head back without it getting taken as a declaration of war, and Loi’s forces outnumber ours by about thirty to one.]

Sandfinch sagged with defeat, her only reply a simple [Oh.]

I thought for a moment, before a plan came to mind and I asked [Loi won’t notice if just two people sneak in, right? If Sandfinch and I go on our own to get her head back, we’re not an invasion, we’re just a pair of travelers.]

Immediately, Sandfinch perked back up again and signed [Yes, I absolutely want to go get my head back!]

Agito smiled, noting [The basic idea seems workable. That said, to avoid attracting attention we might want to find someone willing to lend Sandfinch their head.]

Sandfinch had other ideas there, saying [No. I’m not depriving anyone else of their head for prolonged periods, and that’s final. I’m going headless.]
 
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